Ethnic Studies Degree Requirements

The Ethnic Studies Program and the courses that make up its major address questions of ethnic identity and relations among ethnic groups and is supervised by a faculty committee composed of the course instructors.

In order to receive Ethnic Studies credit a course must devote a significant portion of its content to the study of subordinate racial or ethnic groups, where a subordinate group is understood as one whose members are, or have historically been, disadvantaged and subjected to unequal treatment by the dominant group in a society, the latter understood as a group whose members have superior access to or control over a society's economic, political, or social power. Specific courses may emphasize the cultural practices of one or more racial or ethnic groups or the interrelationships between subordinate and dominant racial or ethnic groups.

Four courses selected from the following, at least two of which must be at the 300 level and no more than three of which may be chosen from one department: ANT 206 (West Indian People and Culture), 208 (Cross-Cultural Love and Family); ART 261 (Topics in Non-Western Art), 263 (African Art), 264 (African American Art), 265 (Latin America and the African Diaspora), 266 (American Indian Art: Gender and the Marketplace); ENG 351 (African-American Literature), 367 (Multicultural Literature); GER 116 (Topic: Holocaust), GER 117 (Islam in Europe); HIS 116 (Introductory Seminar in History, when the topic is "The Holocaust"), 251 (Federal Indian Policy), 255 (American Lives, when the topic is "African-Americans"), 350 (Colonial America), 354 (United States Social History Since 1940), 356 (African-Americans in U.S. History); MUS 220 (Jazz History); PHI 301 (Asian Philosophy); POL 335 (Seminar in International Relations and Comparative Government, when the topic is "Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflicts in Today's World"), 361 (Race, Sex, and the Constitution), 367 (Urban Politics); REL 342 (Judaism), 362 (Holocaust and Response); RUS 281 (Introduction to Russian Culture through Literature and Film); SOC 248 (American Indians: Culture, Activism, and Social Justice), 343 (Women: Oppressions and Resistances), 376 (The African American Civil Rights Movement through Film); SPA 383 (Latinos in the U.S.), and 385 (Latin American Culture and Civilization).

Similar courses, if approved in advance by the Ethnic Studies advisor, may also be chosen as electives. Students are encouraged to participate in relevant study-abroad programs. To count such programs toward an interdisciplinary major in Ethnic Studies, students must obtain the approval of the Ethnic Studies advisor in advance.